Nigel Accepts A Very Kind Invitation

The Geography Department at work is very fond of Nigel, as he is always finding them little leftover morsels in the kitchen to pop into their lunchboxes before they go off on their many Geographical fieldtrips to look at things of a meandering tributary or perched erratic type nature …..

…… and as a small “thank you” they had invited him to their annual Christmas meal last night …… a little late for Christmas perhaps but when you do so many aforementioned fieldtrips, it’s hard to fit in an aforementioned Christmas meal!

Nigel was told that he should avail himself of the special three course menu offer …. and think nothing of having a starter, main and pudding, it was their treat  ….. and as such he started with the lamb koftas …..

…… moving swiftly on to the haddock fishcakes ……

….. and finishing off with a crescendo of lemon curd sponge and gelato,  whilst listening to the banter of fieldtrips to follow ….. Broad Haven and Blencathra sounded sooooooooo romantic …. but it was the tales of Iceland that had him putting his spoon down to listen and dream of seeing “live” volcanoes and geysers, bathing in the Blue Lagoon and lounging in hot tubs ……. he’d give anything to go on that trip ………and wondered if he should “up” his contributions in the lunchbox titbit stakes, just in case an extra space should become available that needed filling!!!!

Nom, Nom, Nom

Darrell was most anxious to get Nigel’s and my most considered opinion on his Betty Crocker Red Velvet Cake ……

…… however, he was also very nervous, as our opinions are always robustly honest, at times unforgiving and with little margin for error, and as such there was a chance (admittedly, a very small one) that he could fall upon his sword (or cake knife), in the Mary Berry/Paul Hollywood comestible baking sense!

But, undeterred Darrell cut us a most amply proportioned portion ……

…….. of which Nigel and I availed ourselves a few seconds to admire it’s deep red colour, it’s light spongeyness and to inhale it’s enticing vanillary fragrance ……

….. leaving Darrell to hang robustly onto our every facial expression and nuance of body language, waiting for a mmmmm or a nom.

He didn’t have to wait long ……

…… his cake was well off our Richter Scale of Noms, with an unbelievable 98.5 out of ten!

If ready bought cake mixes were allowed on The Great British Bake Off Darrell would surely win …….

……. with Nigel announcing …….  it was to die for ……..……. before asking for more!

Darrell Does A Betty Crocker

Darrell had a fancy for a bit of cake yesterday …..
But rather than just nipping over to the village Tesco Express for a Mr Kipling or some such other dainty, he came over all unnecessary and purchased a Betty Crocker Red Velvet cake mix ……..

……… saying that when he saw it, it had evoked many happy memories of Last Vegas, where Red Velvet cake was rife, and of which we had consumed and nommed copiously.

So Darrell set to work, adding the other ingredients and “Whisking….” he said, “…. to a level of perfection Paul Hollywood would have been proud of!” I am afraid that the pictures just do not do justice to the actual redness of the mixture, but believe me it was very red ……. and then naturally Nigel appeared just in time to lick the bowl! What is he like?

Darrell also bought a tub of Betty Crocker vanilla icing, “Well, it would have been most rude not to, seeing as they were sitting side by side on the shelf” he explained.

….. And then proceeded to slather the said cake with the delicious confection with a very deft hand indeed, it was like watching poetry in cake production motion.

And finally, Darrell decided to add his own unique, de rigueur touch to his creation …. by crushing a bag of Maltesers and sprinkling them romantically on the top, pure genius!

Et Voila!  And how did it taste?  Well you’ll have to wait until tomorrow when Nigel and I will be reviewing it most robustly!!!!!

Celebrating Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day–27th January 2014

Today, we will be mostly partaking in the robustly satisfying activity of bubble wrap popping …….

………. in joyous celebration of Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day …….

There will be rampant and unfettered popping off, if you’ll pardon the expression, chez Castle Greysquirel  for most of the day……

…… Darrell with his popping method of choice, avec le rolling pin to maximise his poppage pleasure.

…… while I quite like pricking mine with a fork, one bubble at a time…..

….. and Nigel, well, he is very partial to popping his as close to his ear as possible, so he can relish, he says, “Every nuance of each phut and putt!”

And then, there is always the unbridled delight of wrapping a more than willing Nigel up as tight as we can (within the bounds of Health and Safety) and rolling him ……all round the kitchen …………

……. in a wonderful flurry of bips and boffs!  What are we like? Happy Days!!

http://www.fast-pack.com/bubblewrapappreciation.html

A Postcard From Bonnie Scotland

We’re had a postcardial correspondence from our very special and dearly beloved No. 1 Fan, Jan the Fan, who had very kindly sent us a card from her holiday in Bonnie Scotland, och aye the nooooo!

The aforementioned Jan the Fan said she’d been enjoying the heather and the haggis, but unfortunately did not indicate how many noms she had awarded her said haggis(es), which was a shade remiss of Jan, if we should be so bold, as she is cognisant of our deep seated interest in the nom factor of various interesting comestibles, especially of a foreign clime type nature. Jan also failed to say if she had witnessed any caber tossing, which we have always thought sounds sooooo romantic and regard a very manly pursuit!

However, as she also said, that sadly, she had failed to espy a kilted gentleman, that could explain the no mench of cabor tossing, as usually  gentlemen in kilts and caber tossing go hand in hand. Jan hinted that she was keen to find out what a real Scot wore under his kilt, which we believe is something to do with the not wearing of under garments ……………..

………….however, wisely, we didn’t dwell too much on this little snippet of information mainly due to Nigel’s great impressionability, any suggestion of going “commando” as it were, could  reek havoc throughout chez Castle Greysquirrel, and would then, no doubt, end in tears and in the present climate, a frozen and possibly numb (not to be confused with ‘nom’) never nether region!!!!!!

A Blithe And Cantie Burns Nichte To Ye All!

Darrell and I did enquire as to whether the village Tesco Express would be stocking any Haggis in preparation for Burns Nichte tonight, but we were sadly informed that there was no call for Haggi(s) in “dees dem parts” …………  

…….. However this was music to Nigel’s ears, as he had been robustly behesting that we should really be mostly piping in bonny wee bowls of old fashioned Scott’s Porage Oats,  in ample sufficiency …. in celebration of Mahogmoney Burns Nichte …….. , after taking all the free porridge promotion in the school kitchen very much to his heart.

…… which we will follow by a further ample sufficiency of cheese oat cakes, our current savoury biscuit of choice, after saying our version of The Selkirk Grace ……..

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae porage and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.

Happy Burns Night!

Counting The Days

Darrell so looks forward to going down to London to stay with his best friend and mentor Hugh, who lives the showbiz life in Notting Hill.  No sooner as he is back home than he starts planning and making arrangements for his next visit.

But the  cold, dark, unromantic days of January seem to be laying heavily upon Darrell’s heart and spirits ….. to be perfectly frank, I think he may have a slight touch of “the melancholy” ….. so to get him out of these doldrums I suggested that he should occupy himself by making a sort of Advent chart of the days to go, so that he could see his next trip draw ever nigher ……..

As he did so, he hummed and sighed whimsically, and I could see his gloomy mist rise, and his spirits robustly buoy once more…..

….. with dreams of de rigueur and happy days spent with Hugh …… just hanging on his every word. ………… 

………. happy days indeed!

Looking Forward To ……

It will be so lovely when I can get to work and it’s not dark!

Nigel, Promoter Extraordinaire!

The free porridge promotion in the kitchen is going down very well, with Nigel making it his “mission” that everyone should avail themselves of one small bowlful, even though it might not be their breakfast of choice, just to say that they have given it a try …….

…… and so, as the self appointed “Face of Porridge”,  he has taken to popping into the various offices in the morning with samples!

Yesterday it was my turn for “Nigel’s Daily Delivery of Deliciousness” as he calls it, and as I tucked in he didn’t take his eyes off me for a second, until I had finished every single morsel, waiting for my considered opinion ……

…… which naturally was “Nom, nom, nom”. It was indeed most delicious …… and I couldn’t help myself ….. I just had to ask “Please sir, could I have some more?”

His little face was an absolute picture ……. as  he went scurrying off back to the kitchen to see if there were any seconds!

….. he had made another conversion and his raison d’etre was complete!”

We Are So Honoured And So Very Fortunate!

We’ve had a couple of enquiries about the badge Nigel has been wearing since Christmas on his new puffa jacket ….

….. well, it was a present from The Equally Lovely Denise (the Lovely Laura’s mum) and is the “official” badge of the Morris Dancing Club, that aforementioned Equally Lovely Denise is a member of, to wit The Ironmen and Severn Gilders Morris Club,  and of which we are now unofficial “official” members.

We all have a badge and from this day forward we will wear them with the utmost of pride, with or without our Morris Dancers hats ….. which were also presents from the much aforementioned Equally Lovely and Talented Denise.

But there’s more ……. because The Equally Lovely and Talented Denise is also The Equally Lovely, Talented and Very Kind Denise, because she especially commissioned us a Roses and Castles/Canal Art badge each, with our names on.  How WONDERFUL is that?

They are totally exquisite and we are very robustly touched by the thought, and will also wear them with great pride.

Nigel’s badge is a little big for him to wear on a daily basis, however Darrell, our resident Gok Wan, has told Nigel that it would be seen as tres en trend and de rigueur in Morris Dancing circles to wear his at a jaunty angle on his Morris Dancers hat. 

What is he like and how does he know that?????? Anyway, “Thank you” Equally Lovely, Talented and Very Kind Denise, we love them xxxx